Liz looked up at the jingling chimes of the door of the CrashDown. She started in surprise to see Kyle Valenti stride in looking very relaxed and tanned after nearly a month of basketball camp. She had hardly seen him since the day that Agent Pierce was killed, the same day that Kyle had been shot by a stray bullet and had nearly died. Eagerly she stepped forward. "Kyle."

"Hey, Liz." He slid his hands into his pockets.

"So you're back, huh?"

"Yeah, just got in."

"Did you have a good time? You look great."

"Yeah. Thanks, so do you."

She had run out of polite conversation. What she really wanted to ask was: what are you thinking? What did your father tell you about Max? Did he tell you about the others? Do you understand why I lied to you? Are we friends or are we enemies?

"Um, thanks. Can I, um get you anything?" She walked with him over to a booth where he sat down.

"A coke?" He caught her hand as she turned away. "Can we talk?"

She hesitated, "Um, I have to work..."

"Later?"

She looked into his face, trying to discern what he wanted to talk about, but not having much luck. "Sure." She pulled her hand free and hurried to the counter to get the soda. She almost ran over Maria who was coming out of the kitchen.

"Whoa, what's the hurry?"

"Kyle." Liz nodded to where the sheriff's son was sitting.

"Wow, so he's like back?"

"Yeah."

"Has he said anything about, you know?"

"No, it hasn't come up."

"Hmm." A pause then, "Well, what has he said?"

"Nothing." Liz was done getting Kyle's drink, and she walked past Maria to deliver it. "Here you go, one coke. Anything else for you? A Blue Moon Burger, or Saturn Fries?"

"Do you have any of Mrs. Deluca's strawberry pies?"

"Um, yeah, I think so."

"Then I'll have a slice of that."

"Coming right up." Liz hurried into the kitchen where Maria was waiting to pounce on her.

"What is he doing here?"

"I don't know. He was hungry? Calm down, Maria. It's been like a month already, if he was going to flip out he would have done it already."

"Yeah, but he was away most of the time. What if being back here brings back all the memories, then it's like it just happened."

"Maria, Maria. It's fine. He's not going to do anything. Besides what can he do? The sheriff already knows, and Pierce is gone." Maria was working on her next 'Yeah, but,' when Liz walked back out into the restaurant carrying a plate with a generous portion of Amy Deluca's famous Strawberry Pie. She was unaware that Kyle never took his eyes off of her the whole time he sat there eating his dessert. Maria noticed though.

When he approached the register with his bill, he asked Liz when they could talk. She told him to stop back by in four hours when she got off from work. She watched him leave, a worried frown creasing her forehead.

"Sheriff, you might want to take a look at this." Sheriff Valenti was sitting at his desk surrounded by paperwork. There had been a series of disappearances that have been boggling him and his deputies for a week now. Four residents of Roswell were gone without a trace, and he was looking for something to connect all of them with no luck so far. With a sigh, he closed a file marked "Harvey Snelling," and looked up at his deputy.

"What is it?"

The deputy stepped into the office and handed him a file folder which he flipped open. "An abandoned truck and trailer. The plates are registered to a Mr. Hank Guerin."

"And..." Valenti knew they wouldn't bother him with something as unimportant as this. Not with four lost people to find. "We checked it out, and there was blood on the floor of the kitchen. A lot of it. It's being tested in the lab to see if it's animal or human, but from the condition of the rest of the trailer, it looks like foul play."

"I'll be right there." After the deputy departed, Sheriff Valenti strode down the hall to where the older files were kept. Within minutes, he had found what he was looking for, and left the station.

The time passed swiftly as Liz worked in the bustling restaurant. She was actually surprised to see Kyle step back in and look around for her that evening. Had it already been four hours? He waited patiently downstairs while she rushed into her room and changed. They walked over towards the elementary school playground talking about inconsequential things as they went.

After she was seated on the merry-go-round, Kyle went into the speech he'd been rehearsing for weeks. "Look, Liz. I've done a lot of thinking while I was gone. About... you know. I know now why you were acting like you were, I mean lying to me, and always whispering to Maria and Alex. Max did the same thing to you, didn't he? You were shot that day last September. Max went to you, and healed you the same way he did me last month. Isn't that the truth?"

Mutely, she nodded, and he continued. "I knew it. That's when you started to change. I mean, Liz, the girl I went out with last summer wouldn't have done what you did to me: leading me on, then... You were protecting him, weren't you?" Again, she nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. You didn't think you could tell me the truth about what really happened. You were probably right because I would have told my dad. So, what I want to tell you is that I totally understand and I forgive you... for everything, and there's no hard feelings, ok?"

"That's great, Kyle." Liz was glad that he was ready to put the past behind them. She'd hated that they'd ended on such a sour note. Maybe now, they could be friends - all of them.

"Good, so I was thinking that maybe we could start over. I mean, I would really like to see you again. I always told you that you were special to me and well, you know... But this time you have to promise to tell me anything else that happens. I mean it, no more secrets, no more lies. What do you think? We could go catch a movie tonight."

"What, Kyle..." Liz was stunned. Where had this come from? "I can't go out with you, I'm seeing Max."

"What do you mean?"

She came to her feet. "I mean that I'm going out with Max."

"Yeah, but that's not for real, right? I mean, I thought that was just like a cover to make him seem more normal."

"No, Kyle. How could you think that? We're really going out."

"Liz, how could you?" Kyle was staring at her in shock that turned into revulsion. "He's an alien, Liz." This in the same tone a person might use to say, 'the toilet has backed up, Liz.'

"I know that Kyle, but he's..."

"You have to stop seeing him."

"What? Kyle, what do you mean... I'm not going to..."

"I mean it, Liz."

She was in shock. Where had this come from? Her mind had stopped working. She knew that as soon as it began functioning again she would be in righteous indignation over his presuming to tell her how to run her life. But for right now, she seemed stuck in incredulity. She could barely form a thought.

Kyle paced over and grabbed her by the arms. "How could you let him touch you? How do you know he's not planning to hurt you? I mean, maybe he's feeding off your energy, like sucking your life-force or something?"

She shook off his grip. She was getting angry in defense of Max. "Get real, Kyle. He's not doing anything to me, ok? He's not hurting me. He would never hurt anyone." She took a breath. "He's just like a normal person, just like me and you. I promise you he's not going to hurt me. I am perfectly safe with him." Then her brain kicked in. "And where do you get off telling me who I can go out with? We went out last summer. We had some fun, but it's over. It's been over for a long time. I don't need your permission to see anyone I want. I'm not going to just stop seeing Max or anyone else just because you say so."

"But..."

"No, Kyle." She turned her back on him and started walking away, then stopped and turned back. "I want us to be friends, Kyle, all of us. Promise me you'll at least try to get to know him. You'll see he's not what you think he is. He saved your life, Kyle. You owe him at least that much."

Kyle watched her walking away his mind going over what she'd said. One thing was clear: somehow, Max Evans was controlling her. The Liz Parker he knew would never date a green slimy alien, no matter what form he took on. He'd heard enough stories from his dad and grandpa to know that Max wasn't to be trusted. It would only be a matter of time before he revealed his true purpose. Why couldn't she see it? And to actually date him..., Kyle shuddered. It was wrong, the guy was some unknown species for Christ's sake. Who knew what kinds of disgusting and potentially dangerous mating rituals were practiced by his kind? He remembered the episode of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' where Xander was almost eaten by the totally normal-looking substitute teacher that was actually an evil insect creature in disguise. He wasn't going to let anything like that happen to Liz.